Larry,
To replace the torsion bar, you will need to lift the shell off of the lift arm. You can do this with a farm jack and some wood to distribute the load and protect the shell. Don't forget to remove the shoulder bolt that holds the shell to the lift arm before you start lifting. You need that lift arm free because the torsion bar isn't straight at rest, as you've discovered. The lift arm will give you enough leverage to move it around.
Or maybe yours has pins rather than shoulder bolts.
This is probably all a two-person job. I have stuck my arm through the vinyl flap to have one hand inside the shell and the other outside, to remove the shoulder bolt, working on both sides at once. But maybe that wasn't such a great idea. I'd hate for someone to get pinned that way.
I think that same lift arm fits all of the different diameter bars.
To remove the torsion bar from the lift arm, and get the new one in, try using a clamp like a vise on the wide axis near where the four bolts go, not the narrow axis which is pierced by the bolts. Squeeze the arm there with some force, and the narrow axis should loosen on the torsion bar, and expand enough to allow the new bar in. Don't over-do it, squeeze just enough to let that bar in.
Yes, spring steel is like tool steel, while the frame is much softer.
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